Montreal, Canada, Oct 28, 2004 / 22:00 pm
While street protests in South Africa recall images of the fight against apartheid, the current struggle in the southern-most African country is a struggle for rights of another kind – the right to water.
“We are facing another devil,” said South African activist Richard Mokolo during a Montreal press conference Oct. 13. “The modern struggle in South Africa is against privatization.”
Demonstrations for the right to free water are held regularly and it is not uncommon for protesters to be arrested and tortured, said Mokolo. One protester was shot and killed last month by a police officer, he reported.
Mokolo’s talk launched the second year of the national campaign on water, organized by the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, the Canadian bishops’ development and aid agency.